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Hi. I'm Barbara Swafford and I'd like to welcome you to Blogging Without A Blog. Grab a seat, share your thoughts and join in the conversation.

P.S. The greatest value of this blog lies in the comment section where bloggers in all phases of the blogging journey open up and share their thoughts. Click on the post title to experience the full effect of each lesson.

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I like learning what makes them tick. What they’ve learned in life. What their dreams are, and those little quirks which make them unique.

Today’s Lesson

I’ve seen several blogs where the blog author has published 100 things about themselves; sort of like an “about me” page. It’s a fun read and the information shared gives readers a better idea of who’s behind the blog (even if they don’t share a photo).

The “100 Things About Me” lists are the basis for today’s lesson.

Let’s have some fun and share a tidbit or two about ourselves which others probably don’t know. I see this as a great way to not only share a little more about who we are, but possibly meet new friends in the process.

I’ll go first.

A hobby of mine is genealogy.

After searching for over a year, I finally found copies of the ship’s manifest showing when my Grandmother came to the United States from Finland. (Conflicting stories from relatives had sent me on a wild goose chase.)

In elementary school, penmanship was my favorite class.

To this day I still enjoy “hand writing'”.

I drove an 18-wheeler semi-truck.

When I lived in Alaska, my husband’s business was to haul freight to Prudhoe Bay and Valdez. On a return trip from Valdez, he taught me how to drive the truck so I’d know what to do in the event of an emergency.

Now it’s your turn.

Today’s Assignment

What are some tidbits about you others might not know?

Care to share?

P.S. I’ve seen blogs and Facebook pages where TOO much information is shared; information which could easily be used by identity thieves. Please do not leave personal information in your comment which could jeopardize your identity.

I’m nowhere near close to completing my BS. I attend online courses, each an accelerated 7-week course. Even with classes back to back, I still won’t graduate ’till early 2013. I hope I last that long. Life, as you say, gets busy. =)

1. I lived in Germany for 3 months on a student exchange. Konstanz am Bodensee. Beautiful! 30 years later I am surprised at how much German I still understand, even though I never use it.
2. My ultimate favourite ice cream is Cookie Dough. When I am having a bad day, Marc sneaks off to buy me some. You could say “Awe, that is so sweet”, but I honestly think it is a question of self-preservation
3. I saw my first ghost around age 5. Completely freaked my mother out, because even though she could not see anything, she knew with absolute certainty that I could. Twenty years later when she was investigating the history of the house, she asked if I remembered that day and whether I could describe the ghost. I did, and she went absolutely silent. When she was finally able to speak she said I described the original owner perfectly.

I wanted to say that I hope Eliza has been able to put her psychic skills to good use. It’s not easy admitting such a gift.

I tried to change my mind and have this comment box show up below, but it won’t budge.

So, I’ll quickly say that as a Canadian business woman, I have traveled East and West, North and South with great delight during two different careers. I’ve loved every place I called home and I love my current home best of all.

I cannot tolerate any abuse towards animals…none. When I see people try to turn pets into humans, I see that as a form of cruelty. I love animals being animals. I’ve not had a pet that misbehaved and I never had to punish one of them.

If I were to take on an Advocacy position, I would chose being one for Seniors. I choke up over the wonderful spirit I see amongst our seniors and the quiet strength that comes out in any time of hardship. Seniors amaze me.

Thanks, Barb…my friends have learned nothing new, but perhaps I will have made some new friends. 😀

I like the ideal of developing a post about yourself or improving the about me page on a blog to give a lot of information about yourself. I have tried to stay away from this kind of thing as I still work full-time. But if I was full-time online, I would put all that information out there.

We did a similar thing to this once before with some of my other blogging friends. I talk about anything and everything so saying something new might be difficult.

1. I have intermittent claudication. i.e. my iliac and femoral arteries are somewhat clogging preventing the flow of blood to my legs.
2. I met my husband at a SCUBA diving club
3. I owned three German Shepherds at one time.

1. I went back to college a abt. 1990 to play. I took 2 semesters of drawing classes and made the head of the class in both of them. I have never had formal drawing classes before. I loved them.

2. I worked with my husband laying out and painting parking lot stripes for abt. 15 years in between working in several different bookstores. I love books so what better job could I have than in a bookstore. Working for my husband, I had a great boss and if I didn’t want to work, I didn’t have to. I was a great employee at all of my jobs.

3. My first computer cost me $35.00. I bought it used from a local elementary school. I figured it would be good enough for me to learn the basics on. It lasted me 3 years before it crashed with the hard drive full. I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on something that I might tear up. I was so afraid of computers and that I might do something wrong. That was abt. 8 or 9 years ago.

1. I read…a lot…4 or 5 books a month…I would read more but
life and stuff interfers.
2. I only sleep about 4-5 hours a night. I do nap some days.
3. People seem to laugh when they are with me..I don’t try to
make them laugh it just happens.

Must be something about Patricia’s and reading – I see a pattern here in your comments…

I read on average 3 books per week, but that is not something new about me…hmmm

Most of my life I have not been my own center of attention – I am a junkie for taking care of other people and assisting them. I always get high marks as a counselor and people want to hire me and make appointments but I can not pass the statistics test so I can not pass the qualifying test for most states – no one has offered a Grandfather Certificate or an Einstein Certificate certification – thought they all tell me about it – but they do not offer to sponsor me.
For the last 18 months I have been working to put ME first and I feel very uncomfortable doing this…

I sang the role of Oliver, when the lead’s voice changed and he could not sing, I was back stage and watching on closed circuit TV….The Broadway company came down with the problem in Cleveland, Ohio! and hired me there and I toured through spring and summer with them to 26 cities. A new Oliver was cast when the company returned to NYC. I never got to wear a costume! It was an amazing experience and just writing it makes me wish I could sing still.

I am impressed that you drove an 18 wheeler…and you have given me an idea about my new about page. Thank you

That doesn’t surprise me that you’re a “care giver”, never thinking of yourself and your needs. I think it’s good you’ve decided to put yourself first. If we don’t take care of our own needs. pretty soon we have nothing left to give to others.

How exciting – you sang the role of Oliver. That had to have been an awesome time in your life and a wonderful memory.

Driving an 18 wheeler! Sounds like for a TV program: “Tough Women of Transportation”

Sharing something about me; movement used to be part of my early life.

-The 12 years to finish high school I did them in 14 different schools.
-By the age of 27 I’ve already had 49 different jobs.
-I’ve been a miner, publicist, event producer, truck and bus driver, taxi driver, jewelry artisan, upholsterer, construction worker, among many other things.

Hi Barbara .. great fun – I’d love to have an immigrant history – but would have hated to have been living at that time .. I enjoy reading about others’ histories in their blogs etc.

Three things – I used to glide and went solo at 16 … I worked for and went to the Munich Olympics in 1972 … I went skiing at 17 in Austria .. and told my two school friends we’d arrived – insisted we all got off the train onto the tracks .. thank goodness we were in the right place – it’s now a high flying resort, at that stage it was cheap and cheerful – & no doubt the platform extends the length of the train.

Will you tell us more about your grandmother’s journey and how they got nearly to the west coast? Interesting .. and thanks in advance .. cheers Hilary

Hey – Keith … you peeked! Yup I did more than once during 16 – 18 .. before I could drive – mind you I passed my test 3 m after turning 17 .. having driven only a few times on the road .. my parents would leave me a car at the Gliding Club – private in those days .. – for the day and pick me up at night to drive home .. so I had loads of practice* .. = I am a good driver! But at 17 I drove myself across from Falmouth where we rented a flat for the summer .. * emergency stops before hitting the bomb hole on the prairie track ..

Amazing to think that bombs were dropped over Cornwall .. but they were mostly ‘home’ fire .. ie bombs being dumped from the planes making their way back to South Wales and home airport …

In Penzance – there are craters with palms in them – secluded from the winds – they can stabilise themselves and grow up beyond the crater’s edge .. seems’ funny’ to me ..

Gliding was fun .. by an E type jag and tow rope .. anything more English!! over the cliffs at Perranporth .. cheers Hilary

Hi Keith .. I’m impressed too thinking back! .. oh well Barbara fortunately is the apple of everyone’s eye .. so we should be ok if we have our private little UK space .. she does live in the land of ‘Bend’ ….

I’d love to hear more about your travels to Munich and Austria. Both are such beautiful places. Maybe a blog post?

In a nutshell, my grandmother left Finland when she was 18, went to England and from there to Canada. She traveled by train to Michigan where she was met by her brother. She stayed in Michigan all of her life (she lived to be 86). I left Michigan (where I was raised) after high school and ended up on the West Coast where I’ve lived ever since (California, Alaska, Washington and Oregon).

Hi Barbara .. yes free as a bird – but it was very primitive in those days .. not much lift, up to a few hundred feet – max over 600 feet (not high!) .. lots of wind, and those craggy cliffs – so some ridge soaring, but usually up and down – some flights not last 3 minutes!

I don’t remember much about Austria – went by train all the way … and the skiing was only snowploughs – well that’s all I managed .. but wonderful soft powder snow .. and I wasn’t very good – but when I fell it didn’t matter!

Olympics – yes .. I’ll get out my ‘file’ but it was one of those times of being fairly young and naive .. and I arrived the day after the shooting – so there was lock down, and getting to and from and into the Stadium was pretty daunting .. and I was only there for three days .. so the shooting sort of left everyone in a cloud of uncertainty .. not conducive to looking around the Stadium .. and I couldn’t go anywhere else ..

Did your grandmother come into England at Hull or Grimsby, then overland to Liverpool, and then to the St Lawrence, down the St Lawrence by boat?

Good to know that the lady from Bend came from Michigan! Cheers .. and

You know, I didn’t even realize there were shootings at the Munich Olympics. I just looked it up and by the sounds of it, that was awfully traumatic for anyone who was there. Thank goodness you were safe.

I “think” my grandmother came in at Hull. The manifest says she left from Liverpool and then took the ship to St John, New Brunswick. I believe she got on a train at St John. She crossed the border at Detroit, Michigan. (I remember hearing stories of how she was supposed to come over on the Titanic, but for some reason she got delayed (thank goodness). I’m guessing that could be true as she did come over in 1912)

My best friend and I, when we were pre-teens, loved writing. We tried to recreate the Man from UNCLE on paper, where we were the stars! We also had a master plan to mail ourselves in a refrigerator box to Hermans Hermits (rock group) until we asked my parents for help. That killed a great plan!

Hi Barbara! The 100 things deal that I’ve seen around is just too much. I love how you picked three – that’s enough to make a few interesting points and not so much as to bore people silly with nonsense even the writer of them might struggle to put on a list! That truck had to make you feel powerful – whoa – and I do share in a childhood handwriting obsession.
My 3 are:
1. I am adopted but found my “real” blood family.
2. I am a retired figure skater.
3. I am allergic to shellfish.

This is a fun exercise. I love reading these lists, as it really helps me to get to know the author. I wrote a “100 Things About Me” post last year and it’s a fun way to share some interesting facts. Listing a few is pretty easy, but once I hit 50ish it started getting harder to think of things.
1) I hated English classes in school, but many of the rules of the English language seemed to stick with me, and I use them today while blogging and while editing guest posts on my blog.
2) I work in the computer support field and I don’t own a smartphone. That’s a real oddity around here, but it also means I’m pretty much the only one that sits in meetings and actually pays attention to the meeting.
3) My favorite movies are the ones where an unlikely hero triumphs over a supervillian.
If you want to see more, you can check out the “About” page on my blog.

I agree. It would be hard to write 100 things. I give you credit for doing it and will definitely drop by your blog and read yours.

That’s ironic how you hated English is school and now with blogging it become an important part of your life. We never know, do we?

You’re probably making “brownie points” not owning a smartphone. You’re paying attention and soaking in all of the information and I’ll bet those who conduct the meetings appreciate your undivided attention.

Yes. with all of your interests, you are definitely an artist. In fact, an artist who wears many hats. If you ever decide to share your art, lyrics or poems, please let me know. I’d love to see/read them.

A joy to stop by after a long time. You drove a 18 wheeler semi-truck?!?! Wow! I find that truly amazing, Barbara.

Now my three:

1. I am hopeless with directions. Many times left and right leave me confused.
2. I am a very reluctant giver as I never had enough while growing up.
3. I never share everything about me to everyone. There is a part that only remains with me and will remain so.

Up until I was somewhere in high school I wanted to drive an 18 wheeler, just like Smokey and the Bandit! I’m jealous you really got to drive one! I also wanted to be a mechanic, but I didn’t pursue that career either!

Smokey and the Bandit was a great movie. I only drove the truck twice – once on that trip and again when I took a friend of mine for a ride around the block (to show off – haha).

How interesting you mentioned you wanted to be a mechanic. Like you I think that could be a fascinating job, however it’s a field women don’t enter. Maybe we’re not physically strong enough for all of that “wrenching”.

Wow. I’ve never studied genealogy, but it’s always fascinated me. Supposedly, one of my family members went down with the Titanic and I’ve always wanted to confirm that. I imagine genealogy takes a lot of patience!

Three things about me

1) When I kid, my sister and I used to play horses. Only we were the horses, rather than riders. I was always a Palomino and my sister was an Appaloosa. We’d run around the yard, neighing to each other. Fortunately, we lived in the country with few neighbors:~)
2) My childhood dog saved my life. I was almost bitten by a coral snake when our Dachshund jumped in, grabbed and shook it death. I made sure I didn’t get this dog mad at me after witnessing this.
3) My first kiss was a disaster. We played spin-the-bottle and I got Douglas. We both had braces and they got stuck together. We managed to get untangled, but since we were in the closet for ages doing this, the kiss gained a reputation it didn’t deserve:~)

This was fun!! I loved reading everyone’s comments. You are right; it’s so interesting to learn about other bloggers. Thanks:~)

My little secret
When I was somewhat younger I gave up work and went out to the French Alps to ski.
I eventually became a member of BASI – the British Association of Ski Instructors and taught in a number of French Ski resorts.

I like the details of favorite subject and driving a truck. Some of the readers also had interesting details to share. I only have few details to say: history is my favorite subject, I collect old coins, I wanted to buy amethyst ring because it is my birth stone and I adore Robert Downey Jr. and Brad Pitt.

1. I’m a nite owl. I hardly ever go to sleep before 4am. Somehow i have the stupid idea i can concentrate better when the world around me is sleeping.
2. Other than my fellow colleagues: I hate mice!
3. I’m convinced the internet will cause the next world war!

Hi Barbara,
Every time I log on to empty my inbox, there’s always a post title from you that intrigues me enough to pop over, even though I had no intention of visiting blogs today. You’re a danger to recovering addicts! I’ll be logging off again after I post this, but even though the break’s done me good, I do miss the community. Good to know that you and other kent faces are always aroud when I do log back on. I’m aiming for a total recovery so I get back to quality blogging again some day.

I love the truck!! I’m also stunned at how many coincidences there are above; as a kid, I played horses and was always either a Palomino, a pinto or an Appaloosa. Also, when I was a pre-teen, I used to write myself into all my favourite US TV shows, usually westerns, as an extra character; I recently found screenplays for whole episodes and series!

First few things off the top of my head:

~ As a child, I once ‘borrowed’ my dad’s tools to take them to the neighbouring forest to build a cabin. I chose a spot by a small stream and damned it a wee bit to make a ‘paddling pool’ first. Luckily, that was so much fun, I couldn’t be bothered with all the chopping and sawing I’d planned to do!

~ I used to do mirror writing at school, like Leonardo da Vinci, in French classes if I was bored. One teacher confessed it made marking my homework fun. I suspect he wasn’t happy in his job! I still do it sometimes, just for fun. It turns out neater than my real writing when I read it back in a mirror.

~ As a teenager, I sold snacks at a football stadium and worked Saturdays in a petrol station. I used my earnings to buy my first motorbike at 17 and drove to school and later to university on it.

~ I can’t stand to see paintings hanging lopsided or toilet paper on a roll with the toilet paper hanging down the back; I always straighten the paintings and change the toilet paper so it hangs down the front. MAYbe a wee bit OCD!

~ I have lots of happy memories of the area where they filmed Mamma Mia; my son’s godmother’s family still live near the place where they jumped off the jetty.

~ My grandad was a hypnotist and my grandma read teacups. I inherited a weird range of intuitive gifts, but gave up reading tarot cards as a teenager when the readings became scarily accurate. Now I just embrace synchronicity and honour the strong intuitions and instincts that we’re all blessed with to some degree or another. No surprise that I love watching The Mentalist!

Thanks Barbara. Hope to get my act back in gear soon and writie to you properly.

1. I tripped when I was about to get my medal as declaimer of the year when I was in grade school.
2. My first week of being a freshman in high school was really a blast. My classmates thought that I was really the mental type but it turned out that I am not. They even voted me as the class president.
3. I went to Korea for a choral contest with my fellow choirmates.

Hi Barbara
Your post aroused so many comments. Good job! Now my three ‘secret’ things I want to reveal now
1) When I was 16, I was told by one lady who was considered a fortuneteller that my future husband will be Basil (at that time I knew noone with that name) – now my husband IS Basil.
2) At school I was a rebel but … was the best in study
3) I have always wanted to be slim and have been afraid of becoming overweight – I’m overweight and have to live with it

Hi Barbara! I really love this post. Sometimes, we blog about different things but we forget to tell about ourselves. 1.) I’m a coffee addict. 2.) I love to watch action movies. 3.) I sometimes take a leave at work just to get 15 hours of sleep. I hope #3 is not weird for you. It’s just the real me. =)

15 hours of sleep sounds heavenly. I like sleep too, but life normally only allows me to get 8 hours at the most. I’ve always said I’d like to sleep until I can’t sleep no more, but it hasn’t happened yet.

Wow …. Genealogy made me remember my father , he was also always very interested in genealogy and so is my son.. But I really cant enjoy or love it more.. Just read others work but really never do it on my own… I always think that what interested him so much…. hope you would explain me…

Truthfully, genealogy doesn’t hold an interest for a lot of people. I enjoy researching for “my roots” and trying to learn a little more about my relatives who had passed. If there’s no one around to share what happened, then genealogy is the next best thing.

Hi Barbara……….Nice post. An incident that happened with me and it was really funny. One day I was at my uncle’s home. My uncle was in bath, at that time his cellphone rang. He told me to pick up the cell but at that time I had no cell knowledge. I collect courage and took cell in hand but question was that how to receive call that I did not know. Suddenly I pressed button but I was not sure it was calling button and the shot put right. After that incident, green colored calling button printed in my mind.

I often wish that I had a published CV that everyone would read so that I don’t feel like I have to justify my position or explain myself. Here are my 3:
1. I have worked with many great musicians including Wynton Marsalis, Greg Hutchinson and Train.
2. I want a puggle so bad.
3. I found out that working for Danny Meyer restaurants is a great way to meet celebrities.